I keep using the word sincerity when discussing spirituality, devotion, and the search for God because my own experiences have shown me the difference between being merely interested in these topics and being honest about defining, exploring, and deepening my beliefs. Picking up one of my go-to books on spiritual matters and investing some time in keeping my mind and heart attuned to God-like things makes for a lovely, healthy spiritual “snack”. But I’m also aware that if I’m in need of something much more substantial and nutritious – if I need answers, comprehension and knowledge – I’m more likely to gain deeper understanding when I’m sincere in my attempts to know or come closer to God. Without intending to play a semantics game I would say I’m more sincere about my spiritual studies than I am serious. To my mind, sincerety implies that the heart is involved. I can have a serious discussion about a delicate matter in a relationship, but if I can communicate my feelings and point of view with heartfelt honesty I stand a better chance of being heard and understood. Heart-to-heart communication inspires truth-telling, and sometimes the deepest intimacy one can know is to connect with their truth and speak it to another with sincerity.

I also believe that employing sincerity in our willingness to hear and obey our own callings will bring surprising rewards. There’s something about relinquishing or at least calming ego-based desires that allows the small but special things in life to find their way to us — simple things that provide depth and meaning only to those who have lightened their hearts enough to recognize the flecks of gold hidden in the seemingly ordinary.

I’ve often wondered if there’s a Cosmic Law of the Universe stating that a sincere desire to show up in one’s life as authentically as possible, being committed to becoming the kind of man that God likes working through, and asking for the opportunity to be of humble service to something greater than oneself, must eventually bring the day when the depth of one’s sincerity to be such a man will be challenged.